Page 109 of Baseball and Shifters

“Doesn’t matter,” she grins. “You’re our bestie so if they are mated to you they are practically dating us as well… pack-adjacent counts, right?”

“Pack-adjacent,” Aubree repeats, snorting.

“You guys…” My voice breaks again. “I love you all so much! How did I get so lucky to have you three for best friends?”

“Fate, obviously,” Dallas replies with a wave of her hand, like it’s obvious.

“Or maybe you just deserved some people in your corner for once,” Maya says, softer now, her smile a little misty.

“Or maybe we all just manifested this,” Aubree adds, flipping her platinum hair over her shoulder. “I mean, name a better friend group than us?”

That earns a laugh from all of us, and I soak in the moment of joy.

“I should get dressed,” I say, still smiling. “I want to look perfect for their first tournament game.”

Aubree does a little hop and claps her hands. “Go team glam!”

We pile into the bathroom between my old room and Maya’s with makeup bags, face paint, glitter, and zero chill. Once we are all dressed and matching in our Nightclaw pride, we take a few obligatory pre-game selfies.

“Okay,” Aubree says, fingers flying across her phone screen as she posts our picture to all her socials. “Time to go cheer on Rachel’s guys and look hot doing it.”

“Bonus points if we make the rival team cry with envy,” Dallas adds grinning like she means it.

I nod, anxious excitement buzzing through me. “Let’s go.”

We arrive at a stadium buzzing with energy, the sun dipping toward the horizon and casting a golden light over the enchanted stone facade. An excited chatter fills the air as students and families begin filtering in. Some sport emerald and navy in support of our team and others are in purple and silver, supporting the Arcane Ridge Ravens.

But the moment we step past the entry gates, I stop cold.

The banner stretched across the entrance arch of the stadium catches the light, stealing my breath.

It’s mine.

My logo. My stag. Proud, bold. The green and navy colors shimmer, glowing just faintly, like the moonlight on a lake. Underneath it in stylized script reads:

Welcome to Eldergrove Stadium – Home of the Nightclaws.

“Oh,” I breathe.

Maya grabs my hand. “It’s your design.”

“Wow they meant it when they said immediately,” Aubree says, beaming. “They obviously really loved it.”

Dallas whistles low. “It's perfect.”

Pride fills my chest like wildfire.

“I think I might cry again,” I whisper, eyes stinging.

“Do it,” Aubree dares. “We’ll cry with you. It’ll be hot and emotionally vulnerable, someone will probably take a photo and caption it ‘powerful women support each other.’”

I laugh through the threat of tears, squeezing their hands. And then we walk inside, ready to take our seats and cheer on my guys.

We walk through the stadium together, making our way toward where Helene and Demi wait for us in the VIP box. The moment they see me, Helene pulls me into a warm hug filled with maternal pride.

“You did this,” she whispers, motioning to the changes in the stadium. “This is your mark on this place and it is absolutely stunning.”

“She’s right,” Demi adds, the pride shining in his eyes is becoming a regular thing and it feels good to have parental love for the first time in my life. “The marketing team asked me to pass along their thanks. Apparently the stadium has rejected all their proposals so far but when they presented yours, it adopted the designs immediately.”

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